


Even Dictators Deserve a Christmas

by ChelleyPam



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 13:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2734265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChelleyPam/pseuds/ChelleyPam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by "Truce" by Corycides and a gift for everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Dictators Deserve a Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Truce](https://archiveofourown.org/works/785582) by [Corycides](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corycides/pseuds/Corycides). 



_Independence Hall, December 21st, 2031_

Bass had been staying in his office with door shut. He hated Christmas, but it was expected of him to put on a feast for his local officers and their families. But he refused to watch the preparations. He'd deal with it on Thursday and not a day before.

There was a sharp rap on the door. "Enter!" It opened and Jeremy swaggered in. "I was starting to think Texas killed you."

"They didn't even know I was there."

Something twisted in his gut. "She wasn't there?"

"Oh, she was there. I got her."

Relief and irritation mingled. "Jeremy, if you don't give me a very good explanation of he delay in your return, I'm promoting you."

The other man grimaced. "No need to get nasty. I have an excellent reason."

_Independence Hall, December 25th, 2031_

The party was in full swing. The alcohol was flowing and people were smiling as they visited and exchanged stories of their families and loved ones. 

Of particular interest was the beautiful young woman who was General Monroe's date. She was considerably younger, probably twenty years or more his junior, and resplendent in a dress of whisper blue silk that hugged a body that was lithe and well muscled. Some of the officers recognized her and the gossip spread through the gathering like wildfire. Her? A traitor? That traitor? He brought her here, to stand by his side?

Dinner was served and they all gathered around the dining tables set up in a U shape. The priest from the older church in Philly said the blessing over the meal. The food was exquisite. Everyone was relaxed and enjoyed themselves through the meal. Wild turkey, venison and goose. A multitude of vegetables, some of which had not been available before they'd taken Georgia. The past year had been very good to the Monroe Republic.

When the main meal was over, the dishes were cleared away and sweet dessert wine was served as the staff carried in desserts. Everyone was full and relaxed as Monroe rose. "Your attention, if you please." Everyone turned their attention towards him.

"I would like to say 'thank you', to all of you, for spending this holiday with me. It does my heart good to see you, my friends, enjoying yourselves this day." Everyone made polite noises in agreement. "This has been a good year for the Republic. We have solidified our hold on Georgia. The increase in arable land and crops is allowing us to lower taxes throughout the entirety of our territory. In smaller villages where taxes were wholly based on crop yields we are able to stop taxation completely with the exception of the military requirement. This winter will mark the first since the lights went out that our people will have enough to see them through the cold, and already they are growing stronger and healthier for it." 

A round of honest applause went through the room. This is what they had started the Republic and then Militia for. To provide stability and security. To put an end to the chaos. 

"Now, there are have been a few rough spots. Mr. Flynn, the man who provided us with the means to restore power and increase our military might proved to have an ulterior motive. Not surprising. We suspected this, what he offered was too good to be true, but what neither we nor he expected was that his plans would unravel with the death of Rachel Matheson in the Plains Nation. It was her creation that caused the blackout in the first place, and without her remarkable intellect he was unable to stick the knife into our backs. His scientists now work for us, and with their assistance we have been able to not only secure our borders, but to restore water purification and reliable plumbing to urban areas, return food production and preservation to near pre-Blackout levels and Dr. Bradbury, our surgeon general, assures me we will be able to resume vaccination protocol by next Spring." This brought an excited round of murmurs into the room. The fear of things like polio and whooping cough had returned. Vaccines meant a brighter future for their children.

"And, of course, there are the rebels. Whole Texas and California play lip service to peace, and we cannot yet prove it, we do suspect that one or both of them continues to back the rebel movement. A movement that, sadly, is lead by our former commanding general, Miles Matheson."

He turned his gaze the woman next to him.she hadn't looked at him once during his speech, here yes fixed on the glass of wine before her as though she were trying to break down its chemical composition by will alone. "That brings me to my lovely guest. By now all of you have heard of her identity, Miss Charlotte Matheson, daughter of Rachel and Benjamin Matheson. The niece of Miles Matheson. Reported to have withdrawn from the battlefield during our war with Georgia in which her Uncle became the leader of the rebel faction with Kelly Foster's support. We knew where she was, and I will confess that I was content to leave her alone. After all, she had left the fight, and, in truth, I could not fault her for being in it in the first place. My Militia killed her father, something that was contrary to my orders. Benjamin Matheson had also been involved with the Blackout and I ordered him to be taken alive. It was my Militia that had taken and ultimately killed her brother, after she had braved the wilds from Wisconsin to here to get him back. Her story has become something of a legend, a tale of what someone is willing to do for family."

Charlotte rolled her shoulders in slight discomfort at the attention she was receiving. "But her uncle's actions are becoming more and more desperate and dangerous. My thought had been to bring Charlotte back from where she has been living in Texas to force him into the open. Maybe even to the bargaining table. However, when Captain Baker finally returned with her, I learned that I owe Miss Matheson a larger debt than I knew." He lifted his glass to her in a somber salute. "Perhaps a debt so large I will never be able to fully repay it."

Curiosity was gripping them all. What could he possibly owe her? War was war. Mistakes were made. People died. Did he truly think himself at fault for the deaths of her family?

Monroe nodded to a guard next to a small door off to the side. He opened it and spoke to someone within. "I had the honor of Miss Matheson's company during a battlefield truce at Christmas, a few months before she took her leave of Georgia's service." A woman in a household uniform cane through the door, though most people were paying attention to Monroe and thus did not look at her as she made her way to the head table. Charlotte did. Her eyes watched the woman like a hawk. "What I hadn't anticipated was the outcome of that meeting. An outcome I wish to share with you all."

The woman reached his side and handed over a boy, a child probably no more than two, with a head of unruly blond locks, large, bright blue eyes and cheeks still round and rosy with babyhood. He gripped Monroe's uniformed shoulders with tiny, chubby hands and looked at the sea of faces staring back at him. Understanding rippled through the assembly. 

"It is my very great pleasure to introduce to you Master Benjamin Daniel Matheson-Monroe. My son." Benjamin was overcome by a bout of toddler shyness and buried his angelic face into his father's shoulder. "It is a time for families, after all."

~***~

He finally fell asleep. Charlie ignored the weight of Monroe's eyes as she tucked Little Ben into his bed, the new teddy his father had bought for him clutched tightly in his arm. He'd accepted Monroe so quickly. As though he understood their connection.

"Thank you."

She straightened."For what?"

"For not terminating the pregnancy. For not throwing him away after he was born. For not blaming him for who his father is."

She gathered up the now soiled suit Ben had worn for dinner, he had ended up wearing more of his pie than eating it, and carried them back through the door connecting her son's room to the sting room of the suite they shared. "It was hardly his fault."

"Still, it means a lot to me." He watched her as she placed the clothes in the hamper. "I have a son somewhere. Emma told me that night in Jasper. That's what she was saying before..." He didn't finish. She thought he couldn't finish. "I fin know where he is. I don't even know his name. I just know I have a child out there and I've never known him. I've missed his whole life."

He shut Ben's door save for the tiniest crack. "After the Blackout, I was married. Shelly. She was sweet and gentle, but strong enough not to put up with my crap. We were expecting, but there were complications with the labor. She bled out. I lost her and our daughter."

Charlie turned and watched him. Her expression was difficult to read.

"I love children. Always have. I wanted my own but...life kept kicking me down. So...I'm grateful, Charlotte. I'm grateful to you for carrying him to term. For keeping him when he was born. I'm grateful to you for this chance to finally have a family. I know it wasn't your intention. You and me, we took advantage of a temporary cease fire because we were both alone and even being with someone you hated was better than being alone."

She arched a brow. "You hated me?"

" No. I thought you were too hot to hate you. I love women too much. The only hot woman I've ever hated was your mother. I meant you hating me."

She gave a chuffing snort as he drained his whiskey.

"Was the baby the reason you left Miles?"

She sighed and sat down in one of the chairs by the hearth. "At first. I didn't want him asking. He could always tell when I was lying and he wouldn't have handled the truth well. He'd never believe it wasn't rape and he was already growing obsessed."

"I didn't know you even knew about Gene."

"I knew his name. Knew where he lived. I just took it on faith he'd still be alive."

"I'm glad he was." He studied her. "Only at first?"

She grimaced. "Yeah. Say what you will about pregnancy and hormones, but they made me take stock in a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like...all the people I killed because Miles ordered it. They were soldiers, and they'd try to kill me, but they were all someone's brother or son or father. How many young girls in the Republic would like a chance to kill me if they had a chance. You didn't pull the trigger. Neville fucked up and got my dad killed when his orders were to bring him in alive. Danny picked up that rocket launcher and put himself in the line of fire." She shrugged a shoulder. "And let's not forget that it was my parents who cooked up whatever caused the Blackout in the first place. How many people died from that? My family has a lot more blood on their hands than you ever could."

Monroe swallowed, his eyes locked on her face. "You are far too young to be that fucking wise."

A smile ticked up one corner of her mouth. "When I finally came to terms with being pregnant...I don't know...maybe I thought Ben was a second chance for both families. Maybe he'll grow up to do enough good to balance out all the crap the rest of us have done." She kicked off her shoes and started massaging the tops of her feet, her long hair falling down to be illuminated by the hearth fire.

"And maybe you enjoyed the activity need to conceive him just a little to much."

She gave him a purely female look. "Do men always have to boil things down to sex?"

He considered the question. " Well, yeah."

She shook her head. "Pigs."

He shrugged. "That's why we need women. You keep society from devolving completely and continue the species. If it were up to us, the world would be totally fucked. Not to mention we'd die out, because no man is going to agree to go through childbirth. We're not that brave."

"Did General Sebastian Monroe just admit that women are stronger than men?"

"Of course. You remember your mother, right? Scarier than any twenty of my men combined. Easy."

"So how come you're the president and not some woman?"

He shrugged as he sat down on the love seat, on the end nearest to her. "The right woman hasn't come along. I'm sure if I got married my wife would influence my policies like any other sane and married man."

"Maybe you should lay off the whiskey. You're being too honest."

"Maybe." He poured another glass. "I can't let him go, Charlotte. I can't...I won't miss out on another kid. And he needs his mother."

"So you can't let me go, either."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I respect you, but I can't." He swallowed the whiskey. "I won't pressure you...I don't expect anything more of you...but I can't let you leave. Anything you need, anything you want, you just have to ask." A poor trade for her freedom, but that was all he could give her.

She studied him closely and in silence for a long moment. He felt her eyes on his face but didn't meet her gaze. He heard her stand up, shoes in hand. "Well, my first request is that you lay off the whiskey. Otherwise you'll be of no use to me."

He blinked, looking up. "What?" 

She stopped at the door leading to her bedroom, one hand on the doorframe. "You said I could have anything. Do you know how hard it is for a single mother to get laid? Most guys run screaming once they know you have a kid."

She couldn't honestly be suggesting..."Charlotte?"

She shrugged. "You said it yourself. I enjoyed the activity needed to conceive him far too much. Don't get a big head over it. The only other guy I had to compare you to was probably as inexperienced as I was, and a lack of experience is not something you could ever lay claim to." Her gaze went to the door leading to Ben's room and a soft smile touched her lips. "Besides, you do good work. I wouldn't mind a couple more. I'm liking being being a mother a lot more than being a soldier."

Bass swallowed. "You...don't have to. I'm not going to insist you live like a nun. You can look for someone else." She had to be sure. He needed her to be sure. He could be happy with just Ben.

He'd be ecstatic with both of them.

Charlotte arched a brow his way. "The whiskey, Bass?"

He set the glass down with shaking hands. She rewarded him with a smile before slipping into her bedroom.

Bass got up from the love seat, his hands quickly divesting himself of his uniform jacket.

For the first time in a long while, he thought he might actually like Christmas.


End file.
